


Cheshire, England, Winter of 1940

by lolneptune



Category: Code Name Verity Series - Elizabeth Wein
Genre: F/F, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:48:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22245109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lolneptune/pseuds/lolneptune
Summary: "I'm so glad you're here."
Relationships: Julie Beaufort-Stuart/Maddie Brodatt
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	Cheshire, England, Winter of 1940

That chilly afternoon in Maddie’s hometown, when they took the motorbike up the Dark Peak: Julie’s arms belting her waist, the shuddering engine, whistle of the wet wind --

Julie had felt almost sick with fear at their vulnerability. Open to the wind, eating up the road at inhuman speed, it was like peering over the edge of a vast chasm. She was not tied to any spire, though, and the warm press of Maddie’s body felt so potently safe she could have wept. For miles in every direction stretched the rolling Pennines, saturated and a stunning shade of hazel in winter. Maddie’s easy command of the bike recalled her skill in the air; it was suddenly clear that to Maddie, who was surely some variety of winged creature in another life, riding her motorbike must have been the closest thing to flying. Had Maddie always been a pilot? 

Julie brought her chin to rest at the juncture of her friend’s neck and shoulder: her aviator jacket was very warm. 

The wind teased strands of Julie’s hair from its neat coils. It was bizarrely satisfying to see its pale gold mingling with Maddie’s curls, purest black and sweetly frizzed by the wind. Her curls were very soft and warm, she knew, and good for tangling around one’s fingers. 

“How are you doing back there?” Maddie called over her shoulder, raising her voice to be heard above the wind. 

“I may have discovered a new fear today,” said Julie, voice shaky but in good humor. 

Maddie, without turning her gaze from the road, loosed a pale hand from steering and found Julie’s hand on her waist; her grip was warm and firm. She squeezed. 

“Let me know if you want me to stop,” said Maddie, quite serious. 

Julie laughed. “Don’t be daft, I never want it to end. You’re wonderful at this.” Then, grinning into her shoulder: “Fly the plane, Maddie.” 

She caught the edge of Maddie’s special smile, reserved just for her in these rare moments of peace. Maddie gave her hand another parting squeeze and then returned her steady grip to the bike. They were approaching the apex of the summit, and Julie watched in loving awe the stretches of dark land fall behind them in their steady ascent. 

It began to rain. No — it was sleet. Julie giggled with fear and glee at the sensation, a freezing contrast to the heat between their bodies. 

“I’m jolly glad I haven’t got to fly in this,” said Maddie. “Look, we’re nearly at the top.”

Julie looked. The sleet was falling thickly now, but she could see Maddie was right: they were at a height such that everything seemed to drape itself as a blanket beneath them. 

Maddie slowed to a stop but left the engine running, a strong and steady rumble. The wind picked up, so that Julie could hardly hear her next words:

“I’m so glad you’re here.”

Julie slid her hands to Maddie’s face. Her black curls billowed and twisted in the wind; Julie held it from her face with a hand and gently turned her head with the other, and then she kissed her, cheek cold and smooth beneath her lips. Maddie’s eyes fluttered shut. The black smear of her eyelashes was somehow unbearably tender. 

“I’m so glad I’m here,” Julie returned, a whisper in her ear, barely audible over the deafening sound of the engine and the whipping wind. 

Maddie again took her hand, which had fallen to Maddie’s waist. Julie stroked her fingers with a cold thumb. 

“Julie…” Maddie began.

Then the sky burst to life: miraculously, the sun emerged from the thick spread of clouds, alighting the Pennines in a splendid patchwork of gold. Maddie dismounted the still rumbling bike; her steps were light on the ground, and as she came to stand at the edge of the road, Julie saw that the landscape seemed to roll out before her very feet, a woven rug — no, a tapestry, or a picnic blanket of rich quilted colors. Maddie was beautiful like that, standing in the wind, richly dark hair sweet as ripe berries, her posture confident, at ease, alive. 

Julie slipped off to meet her. 

“Wow,” she voiced. She was sure Maddie couldn’t hear her over the noise; she turned to see if she had, though, and Maddie was already looking at her. It shocked Julie: the sunlight made her eyes glow, and the expression on her face made Julie feel as though they were alone in the world. In fact they had not passed a soul for miles; they were unseen. Private.

Sleet fell around them still.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” said Maddie. 

They had swayed unconsciously near each other. Maddie rose a cautious hand to her shoulder; her eyes glittered with tears. Julie’s heart ached at the sight, touched as always by Maddie’s depth of feeling. She took Maddie’s face in her hands and drew her close, swiping fallen tears with her thumbs. 

She leaned to kiss her cheek — then lingered there, breathing shallowly against Maddie’s flushed skin. She felt a nose nudge her own, and then the touch of her friend’s warm breath on her lips. Julie looked up and found Maddie staring at her: suddenly her body was filled with intoxicating heat. 

Then the touch of Maddie’s mouth. Julie could not look away from her eyes, swallowed by inky pupils, not even when a devilish tongue slid snakelike along her lower lip.

Julie could not contain her sigh of feverish pleasure. “Oh, Maddie…”

It was impossible to remember when her eyes closed, so shaken was she by the thrust of Maddie’s tongue into her parted mouth, careful exploration of her teeth, gentle suction on the swell of her lip. Time seemed to slow to a dizzying halt. 

Vaguely, a terrifying and brilliant thought materialized:

Maddie felt it, too. Whatever it was. 

Julie was not alone.

As though to test this theory, Julie sucked lightly on Maddie’s tongue, which was sliding rhythmically on the roof of her mouth. This seemed to encourage Maddie, who brought her hands to rest at Julie’s slender waist. Needing to feel her touch, Julie guided one of Maddie’s hands beneath the hem of her own shirt, gasping quietly at the feeling. Maddie squeezed shyly, breaking their kiss to search for approval.

Julie nodded briefly, smiling, and pulled Maddie back in by the shoulders for another kiss. 

They moved together, pulsing and warm, surrounded by the sleet and wind and glowing sun, spit chilling as they parted between gentle kisses, breaths shallow and fogging in the cold air. The sun warmed their faces. 

Maddie pulled away at last, and Julie saw why upon finally opening her eyes: the sun had disappeared, casting the world once again in bleak shadow. Somehow, though, the Pennines appeared lovelier than ever. 

“We’re wasting precious fuel,” joked Maddie, nodding at the motorbike. Her hands were slow to leave Julie’s waist. “We’d better get going.”

They mounted the bike, Julie moving in a daze. She fitted herself snugly against Maddie’s body on the seat. As Maddie kicked off and began to accelerate, Julie noticed that the combination of her friend’s body pressed close against her and the steady rumble of the engine incited a warmth deep inside her, starting in her stomach and seeming to spread all over. 

Her hands itched to feel Maddie -- all of her, anything she could reach -- but she stifled the urge for fear of distracting her from the road. Maddie was such a brilliant pilot regardless, she could probably steer with her eyes closed -- best not risk it, though, especially with these tractor ruts that bounced them what felt like several feet into the air with the speed they were going at. Instead she pressed a kiss to the back of her exposed neck, enjoying the smell of her, so distinctly Maddie. 

They pulled into Maddie’s grandparents’ garage feeling cold, wet and windblown. Maddie helped Julie climb off the bike, holding her for perhaps a moment longer than she needed to. 

They shucked their drenched woolen coats and muddy boots -- “We’ll clean them later,” Maddie had said -- and then they took to the kitchen, where they made proper mugs of tea and salvaged what was left of the ginger scones Maddie’s grandmother had made that week. Maddie told Julie all about the trips she and Beryl used to take along Highdown Rise -- frequent picnics in the summertime, Beryl’s best skirt ruined and mud splattered up their legs as Julie might have experienced today were it not for the heavy boots she’d cleverly donned. 

Julie loved Maddie’s grandparents’ house -- it smelled just like her. More than that, though, she loved Maddie’s room, to which they retreated upon finishing their tea and after Maddie had confirmed that her grandparents were out with friends as they’d said they would be.

There was a beautiful quilt on her bed patterned with triangles of red and white fabrics. It looked like an exploding star. Across the bed frame was a handsome wooden desk, and next to that a sturdy wardrobe and a lamp. A little toy airplane balanced on the window ledge. 

Maddie sat on her desk chair as Julie closed the door behind them with a faint click; she turned the lock for good measure. 

Maddie’s eyes were on her when she turned around. Julie smiled, instantly warmed. She crept to the bed and came to rest at the headboard, body angled to face Maddie. She wanted desperately to feel her again — to taste her mouth, touch her soft skin. She wanted to do whatever Maddie would let her...

“Come here,” she said gently, sounding more confident than she felt. She patted the bed next to her. 

Maddie blinked and stared for a moment, and then, seeming to finally get it, she rose from her seat and crept shyly over to Julie. She sat with her knees between them. close enough for Julie to reach out — which she did — and pull Maddie’s legs gently over to straddle her lap. 

A warm thrum began between her legs; her pulse raced. It made her squirm.

“Maddie,” said Julie softly, tasting the name in her mouth, “you’re so…” 

Her black hair was still, now, but retained the memory of motion, somehow still tossing in the wind, thick viney tendrils of ink. Her long, long eyelashes blinked. Julie raised a hand to caress her jaw. 

“…incredibly lovely,” she decided. Even quieter: “I want you.”

Maddie closed her eyes; Julie’s tender strokes moved to touch her lip, pale red and gorgeously chapped by the wind. Gently, testing, she thumbed Maddie’s lips apart, and felt the slick heat there — arousal swirled below her navel, imagining what it would be like to touch Maddie somewhere else. 

Maddie opened her eyes, hooded and glazed with pleasure, and Julie blushed to be caught staring. She slid her hand to Maddie’s neck, the other clasping her waist, and leaned up to kiss her. 

It was almost better than the first time; there was no hesitation. Maddie’s mouth was hot and slick, tasting still of ginger scones and earl grey tea. Her tongue found Julie’s again and asserted itself in her mouth — so nice to suck on — massaging her insides and eliciting a sweet shudder that racked through Julie’s body like an exorcism. 

“Hell,” Julie gasped as they parted. 

Maddie touched their foreheads together. “I’ve wanted you for such a long time,” she whispered. She hesitated. Then: “Tell me what you want me to do.”

Julie clasped her shoulders tightly, needing the solidity to rein herself in. Aching, she pushed Maddie slightly back, enough that they could see each other clearly. 

“Watch,” she instructed. 

She pulled the pins from her hair, allowing it to spill messily on her shoulders. Then her sweater came off, soft and well-made, and Julie discarded it neatly on the floor. Maddie’s eyes didn’t leave her face.

“You can look,” said Julie, her smile teasing. 

She was proud of her breasts: they were full and supple, held in the lacey bra she so coveted. She was glad she had thought to wear it: Maddie’s eyes fell desperately to her chest, darkening even in the lamplight. 

“Take off your shirt,” Julie told her.

Maddie, trained to react positively to orders, complied with enthusiasm. Julie rewarded her with a smile. 

“Your trousers, too,” she said. 

And Maddie’s trousers, too, were removed. 

Julie sighed happily, admiring Maddie’s beautiful exposed skin. One of Julie’s bra straps slid delicately off her shoulder; Maddie’s eyes followed the motion. Julie reached behind herself and slowly unclasped her bra.

Her breasts spilled out, obscenely full on her lithe frame. She felt her nipples pucker and harden in the chilly air. 

“You’re so beautiful, Julie,” Maddie whispered.

Julie smiled with pleasure and took Maddie’s hands in hers, guiding them to her exposed breasts. “Play with them,” she ordered. “I want to feel your hands on me.”

Maddie, of course, obeyed. Her hands felt marvelous — Julie could not resist closing her eyes and enjoying the feel of it, her best friends fingers on her bare breasts, rolling them in circles and rubbing her nipples with a light touch. Overcome with love for her, she seized Maddie close and kissed her. Maddie hummed into her mouth as Julie rubbed small hands along her thighs. She fingered the hem she found at her waist.

“Is this alright?”

Maddie nodded vigorously, smiling. She unclasped her own bra and slipped off her underwear. Gorgeous.

Awed, Julie brought careful hands to sit at Maddie’s waist. Her breasts were beautifully small and, Julie discovered, perfect for rolling between her fingers as she bent to kiss Maddie on the chest. The hair between her legs was thick and curly; Julie was intensely curious to find out what she smelled like, how she felt — God — how she looked as she touched her. 

Julie toed off her own underwear and crawled closer to Maddie, breasts bouncing with her movement. She took Maddie by the waist and tried desperately to press her whole body against hers, lathering desperate kisses along her collarbone, neck, jaw, finally taking her bottom lip into possession and giving it a gentle nip. Maddie slowly wrapped her own arms around her — Julie relocated one of Maddie's hands to her breasts, as she missed the feeling already — and rose to her knees to make use of the height she had on Julie, capturing her in a melting kiss. 

Julie’s hands wandered, palming wherever she could reach and finally slipping to land in the coarse hair below Maddie’s navel. As her hand crept lower, it seemed to grow warmer, humid, like breath — she cupped Maddie firmly in her hand, another arm guiding her closer, and concentrated on massaging the supple, damp skin she found there; Julie could hardly believe her luck, or the sight before her, this beautiful, brilliant woman whom she loved so dearly, reduced to putty in her hands. It was an exhilarating feeling. 

She slipped a finger inside — immediately, like slipping into a hot bath, she was met with searing, slick folds of skin, slippery soft as a mouth. She ran a firm finger up and down the line of her, relishing the sound of Maddie’s accelerated breaths, open mouthed and sloppy against Julie's face.

She found the spot she liked on herself and began to rub there in quick circles.

Maddie gasped. “A little to the right… Ah!”

“Good?”

“Yeah.”

Julie continued to stare at her mesmerizing face, flushed and open, watching for signs of discomfort or pleasure and adjusting her manipulations accordingly. Maddie opened her eyes and smiled when she caught Julie’s stare. Julie blushed and watched her own hand move between Maddie’s legs. 

“Can I…?”

Julie’s heart raced. “Yes,” she said. “You can.”

Julie’s movements stilled briefly as Maddie reached between her legs and found the wet heat of her parted lips. She looked Julie in the eye.

“You feel so good.”

Julie smiled, gratified. “So do you,” she said earnestly.

They moved to lie next to each other, legs tangling, heads bowed close together, hands moving rapidly between each other’s legs, speaking in whispers.

Julie loved her in the air, on a plane; she recalled Maddie’s eyes on the horizon as Julie watched her from the passenger seat. She loved her like this: panting, rocking, thick legs bent open to invite Julie’s touch. Sweat shined on her upper lip; Julie kissed her, and Maddie gave her a stunning smile. 

Julie’s final thought before she came was that the way Maddie held her, with her strong hands made for flying, felt like she would never let go. Julie realized she didn’t want her to. 

Afterwards — when Maddie’s twitching legs, clenching stomach came to a rest, and her thighs were sticky with come — Julie rolled onto her stomach and stroked her hair, watching lovingly as her friend caught her breath. 

“I wish I didn’t have to leave tomorrow,” she said. “I’ve enjoyed my stay here so very much.”

Maddie smiled. “So have I,” she said. “It’s alright, though; I’ll see you real soon.” 

As Julie stared at her, Maddie's eyes filled suddenly with tears. 

“Drat,” she cursed, laughing a bit as she swiped at her eyes, “there I go again with the waterworks.”

Julie pulled her close, wrapped her with her whole body and kissed her sweetly on the lips. “I love you,” she said.

Maddie sobbed harder. “I love you.”

They’d meant to have supper with Maddie’s grandparents later, but they were so warm and full of scones and tea, and it was so pleasant lying there together on Maddie’s bed, that when Maddie closed her eyes and breathed deep, even sighs into her shoulder, Julie pulled the quilt over the both of them and drifted off as well. She dreamt they were flying. 


End file.
